The present invention relates to the art of coin banks and, more particularly, to a coin bank having a coin storage area including a coin holding unit selectively displaceable between retracted and extended positions relative to the coin bank housing.
The present invention finds particular utility in connection with a coin bank structured similar to that illustrated and described in the above-mentioned co-pending application, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. While the invention will be described herein in conjunction with such a coin bank structure, it will be understood and appreciated that the invention is applicable to other coin bank structures including a coin storage unit which is selectively displaceable between retracted and extended positions relative to a coin bank housing.
Basically, the coin bank illustrated and described in the aforementioned co-pending application comprises a housing including a coin receiving area for receiving unsorted coins, a coin sorting assembly in the housing beneath the coin receiving area for separating coins based on their denomination, and a coin storage area beneath the sorting assembly for storing sorted coins. The storage area comprises a drawer slidably mounted in the housing and a plurality of coin tubes supported in the drawer for displacement therewith and for pivotal displacement relative thereto between inclined and generally upright positions. The drawer is manually displaceable between retracted and extended positions relative to the housing, and the coin tubes are in the inclined position for receiving sorted coins when the drawer is in the retracted position and are upright to facilitate removing one or more of the coin tubes when the drawer is in the extended position thereof.
While the sliding drawer serves its intended function in displacing the coin tubes between a retracted coin receiving position and an extended access position relative to the housing, manual displacement of the drawer is inconvenient and can be somewhat cumbersome. In this respect, a person must hold the housing with one hand while pulling the drawer from the retracted to the extended position and while pushing the drawer from the extended to the retracted position. Moreover, if the pulling or pushing force is imposed laterally of the linear path of movement in the directions of extension and retraction, the drawer and housing will frictionally interengage and, depending on the degree of side thrust, possibly make the relative displacement between the drawer and housing more difficult. Furthermore, while the drawer and housing interengage in the retracted and extended positions of the drawer to limit the relative displacement therebetween, manual displacement of the drawer is without any control of the speed of movement whereby displacement of the drawer can result in impacting between the component parts in the extreme positions of the drawer which, over a period of time, can result in excessive wear and/or damage to the parts.